Transcript for #bitcoin-dev 2017/12/07

phantomcircuit: I think I’m clear that the mempool is updated by a full node when it receives a block and validates it, the transactions within that block or removed from the mempool…if that is correct, my issue is what happens when there’s a fork in the chain.

phantomcircuit: So if the full node receives A-B-C with C being a valid block and removes the transactions from the mempool, what happens if the next block is A-B-D? That is, when does the full node validate the D block and then if it’s valid hang on to it until the blocks are reconciled? And if so, does the node try to remove the tx in D from the mempool as well?

this is so frustrating, all i want to do is not have to re-download the entire blockchain again, i've moved the blockchain data off to a diff drive (imagine that) created a hard symbolic link for/to the blocks folder which seems to be working fine, but when i launch bitcoin-qt it's saying error initializing block database and if i want to rebuild, is this at all related to the chainstate folder? i really don't want to have t

Blockchain explorer shows x btc going to public address PUB1. I know the corresponding private key PRIV1. If I importprivkey PRIV1 - and rescan - in an unrelated wallet W, will my balance go up by precisely x? Or could there be "missing inputs"? (assuming that W doesn't already know PRIV1)

the majority of txs currently on btc are likely to/from exchanges from private wallets, and other large p2p value transfers. i see how lightning can help use cases related to retail and between exchanges, etc.. but i don't see how it will help alleviate the bulk of the current tx activity. mempool is sitting at close to 200mb and >200k txs. can someone explain?

the mempool/tx backlog is an obvious issue - people seem to be touting lightning as one of the potential solutions - i just don't see it based on what the likely tx use cases are as very little (if any) is being used for payments/services atm

ok say you have 100 btc... you want to trade actively trade 10 of it... you either put the 10 on an exchange or put the 10 into a lightning channel. obviously the latter is "safer", but both cases only affect mempool when pushing/pulling funds

i just think it's misleading then to act as if lightning is going to help considerably, even when adopted, with mempool/backlog. if 80% of tx activity on-chain now was retail/payment based, i'd agree.... but it's not

sentineo: no, so i realize i could be wrong... i'm using common sense.. who is accepting bitcoin for payment for goods/services now? and if they are, who in their right minds would be doing that with crazy fees?

the input encoding is the same, but the json shows up differently for these type of transactions so it seems like there's something special to it. there's not. just some specific "previous" txid and index